1)consumer behaviour

2) Marketing reasearch in product launching

3) customer perception
4) buying behaviour
5) product launching strategies.....

Consumer Behavior

Note: The issues discussed below are covered in more detail at

consumer behavior section of this site.
Consumer behavior involves the psychological processes that consumers go through in
recognizing needs, finding ways to solve these needs, making purchase decisions
(e.g., whether or not to purchase a product and, if so, which brand and where),
interpret information, make plans, and implement these plans (e.g., by engaging in
comparison shopping or actually purchasing a product).

Sources of influence on the consumer.  The consumer faces numerous sources of

influence. 

Often, we take cultural influences for granted, but they are significant.  An American
will usually not bargain with a store owner.  This, however, is a common practice in
much of the World.  Physical factors also influence our behavior.  We are more likely
to buy a soft drink when we are thirsty, for example, and food manufacturers have
found that it is more effective to advertise their products on the radio in the late
afternoon when people are getting hungry.  A person’s self-image will also tend to
influence what he or she will buy—an upwardly mobile manager may buy a flashy car
to project an image of success.  Social factors also influence what the consumers buy
—often, consumers seek to imitate others whom they admire, and may buy the same
brands.   The social environment can include both the mainstream culture (e.g.,
Americans are more likely to have corn flakes or ham and eggs for breakfast than to
have rice, which is preferred in many Asian countries) and a subculture (e.g., rap
music often appeals to a segment within the population that seeks to distinguish itself
from the mainstream population).   Thus, sneaker manufacturers are eager to have
their products worn by admired athletes.  Finally, consumer behavior is influenced by
learning—you try a hamburger and learn that it satisfies your hunger and tastes good,
and the next time you are hungry, you may consider another hamburger.

Consumer Choice and Decision Making: Problem Recognition.  One model of

consumer decision making involves several steps. The first one is problem recognition
—you realize that something is not as it should be.  Perhaps, for example, your car is
getting more difficult to start and is not accelerating well.    The second step is
information search—what are some alternative ways of solving the problem?  You
might buy a new car, buy a used car, take your car in for repair, ride the bus, ride a
taxi, or ride a skateboard to work.  The third step involves evaluation of
alternatives.  A skateboard is inexpensive, but may be ill-suited for long distances
and for rainy days.   Finally, we have the purchase stage, and sometimes a post-
purchase stage (e.g., you return a product to the store because you did not find it
satisfactory).  In reality, people may go back and forth between the stages.  For
example, a person may resume alternative identification during while evaluating
already known alternatives.

Consumer involvement will tend to vary dramatically depending on the type of

product.  In general, consumer involvement will be higher for products that are very
expensive (e.g., a home, a car) or are highly significant in the consumer’s life in some
other way (e.g., a word processing program or acne medication).

It is important to consider the consumer’s motivation for buying products.  To achieve

this goal, we can use the Means-End chain, wherein we consider a logical progression
of consequences of product use that eventually lead to desired end benefit.  Thus, for
example, a consumer may see that a car has a large engine, leading to fast
acceleration, leading to a feeling of performance, leading to a feeling of power,
which ultimately improves the consumer’s self-esteem.  A handgun may aim bullets
with precision, which enables the user to kill an intruder, which means that the
intruder will not be able to harm the consumer’s family, which achieves the desired
end-state of security.  In advertising, it is important to portray the desired end-
states.  Focusing on the large motor will do less good than portraying a successful
person driving the car.
Information search and decision making.  Consumers engage in both internal and
external information search.  Internal search involves the consumer identifying
alternatives from his or her memory.  For certain low involvement products, it is very
important that marketing programs achieve “top of mind” awareness.  For example,
few people will search the Yellow Pages for fast food restaurants; thus, the consumer
must be able to retrieve one’s restaurant from memory before it will be considered. 
For high involvement products, consumers are more likely to use an external search. 
Before buying a car, for example, the consumer may ask friends’ opinions, read
reviews in Consumer Reports, consult several web sites, and visit several dealerships. 
Thus, firms that make products that are selected predominantly through external
search must invest in having information available to the consumer in need—e.g.,
through brochures, web sites, or news coverage.

A compensatory decision involves the consumer “trading off” good and bad attributes
of a product.  For example, a car may have a low price and good gas mileage but slow
acceleration.  If the price is sufficiently inexpensive and gas efficient, the consumer
may then select it over a car with better acceleration that costs more and uses more
gas.  Occasionally, a decision will involve a non-compensatory strategy.  For example,
a parent may reject all soft drinks that contain artificial sweeteners.   Here, other
good features such as taste and low calories cannot overcome this one “non-
negotiable” attribute.

The amount of effort a consumer puts into searching depends on a number of factors
such as the market (how many competitors are there, and how great are differences
between brands expected to be?), product characteristics (how important is this
product?  How complex is the product?  How obvious are indications of quality?),
consumer characteristics (how interested is a consumer, generally, in analyzing
product characteristics and making the best possible deal?), and situational
characteristics (as previously discussed).

Two interesting issues in decisions are:

 Variety seeking (where consumers seek

to try new brands not because these
brands are expected to be “better” in
any way, but rather because the
consumer wants a “change of pace,”
and
 “Impulse” purchases—unplanned buys.
This represents a somewhat “fuzzy”
group.  For example, a shopper may
plan to buy vegetables but only decide
in the store to actually buy broccoli
and corn.  Alternatively, a person may
buy an item which is currently on sale,
or one that he or she remembers that is
needed only once inside the store.

A number of factors involve consumer choices.  In some cases, consumers will be

more motivated.  For example, one may be more careful choosing a gift for an in-law
than when buying the same thing for one self.  Some consumers are also more
motivated to comparison shop for the best prices, while others are more convenience
oriented.  Personality impacts decisions.  Some like variety more than others, and
some are more receptive to stimulation and excitement in trying new stores. 
Perception influences decisions.  Some people, for example, can taste the difference
between generic and name brand foods while many cannot.  Selective perception
occurs when a person is paying attention only to information of interest.  For
example, when looking for a new car, the consumer may pay more attention to car
ads than when this is not in the horizon.  Some consumers are put off by perceived
risk.  Thus, many marketers offer a money back guarantee.  Consumers will tend to
change their behavior through learning—e.g., they will avoid restaurants they have
found to be crowded and will settle on brands that best meet their tastes.  Consumers
differ in the values they hold (e.g., some people are more committed to recycling
than others who will not want to go through the hassle).  We will consider the issue of
lifestyle under segmentation.

The Family Life Cycle. Individuals and families tend to go through a "life cycle:" The
simple life cycle goes from

For purposes of this discussion, a "couple" may either be married or merely involve
living together. The breakup of a non-marital relationship involving cohabitation is
similarly considered equivalent to a divorce.

In real life, this situation is, of course, a bit more complicated. For example, many
couples undergo divorce. Then we have one of the scenarios:

Single parenthood can result either from divorce or from the death of one parent.
Divorce usually entails a significant change in the relative wealth of spouses. In some
cases, the non-custodial parent (usually the father) will not pay the required child
support, and even if he or she does, that still may not leave the custodial parent and
children as well off as they were during the marriage. On the other hand, in some
cases, some non-custodial parents will be called on to pay a large part of their income
in child support. This is particularly a problem when the non-custodial parent
remarries and has additional children in the second (or subsequent marriages). In any
event, divorce often results in a large demand for:
  Low cost furniture and household items
 Time-saving goods and services

Divorced parents frequently remarry, or become involved in other non-marital

relationships; thus, we may see

       

Another variation involves

       

Here, the single parent who assumes responsibility for one or more children may not
form a relationship with the other parent of the child.

Integrating all the possibilities discussed, we get the following depiction of the Family
Life Cycle:

Generally, there are two main themes in the Family Life Cycle, subject to significant
exceptions:

 As a person gets older, he or she tends

to advance in his or her career and
tends to get greater income
 (exceptions: maternity leave, divorce,
retirement).
 Unfortunately, obligations also tend to
increase with time (at least until one’s
mortgage has been paid off). Children
and paying for one’s house are two of
the greatest expenses.

Note that although a single person may have a lower income than a married couple,
the single may be able to buy more discretionary items.

Note that although a single person may have a lower income than a married couple,
the single may be able to buy more discretionary items.
Family Decision Making: Individual members of families often serve different roles in
decisions that ultimately draw on shared family resources. Some individuals are
information gatherers/holders, who seek out information about products of
relevance. These individuals often have a great deal of power because they may
selectively pass on information that favors their chosen alternatives. Influencers do
not ultimately have the power decide between alternatives, but they may make their
wishes known by asking for specific products or causing embarrassing situations if
their demands are not met. The decision maker(s) have the power to determine issues
such as:

 Whether to buy;
 Which product to buy (pick-up or
passenger car?);
 Which brand to buy;
 Where to buy it; and
 When to buy.

Note, however, that the role of the decision maker is separate from that of the
purchaser. From the point of view of the marketer, this introduces some problems
since the purchaser can be targeted by point-of-purchase (POP) marketing efforts that
cannot be aimed at the decision maker. Also note that the distinction between the
purchaser and decision maker may be somewhat blurred:

 The decision maker may specify what

kind of product to buy, but not which
brand;
 The purchaser may have to make a
substitution if the desired brand is not
in stock;
 The purchaser may disregard
instructions (by error or deliberately).
It should be noted that family decisions are often subject to a great deal of conflict.
The reality is that few families are wealthy enough to avoid a strong tension between
demands on the family’s resources. Conflicting pressures are especially likely in
families with children and/or when only one spouse works outside the home. Note
that many decisions inherently come down to values, and that there is frequently no
"objective" way to arbitrate differences. One spouse may believe that it is important
to save for the children’s future; the other may value spending now (on private
schools and computer equipment) to help prepare the children for the future. Who is
right? There is no clear answer here. The situation becomes even more complex when
more parties—such as children or other relatives—are involved.
Some family members may resort to various strategies to get their way. One is
bargaining—one member will give up something in return for someone else. For
example, the wife says that her husband can take an expensive course in gourmet
cooking if she can buy a new pickup truck. Alternatively, a child may promise to walk
it every day if he or she can have a hippopotamus. Another strategy is reasoning—
trying to get the other person(s) to accept one’s view through logical argumentation.
Note that even when this is done with a sincere intent, its potential is limited by
legitimate differences in values illustrated above. Also note that individuals may
simply try to "wear down" the other party by endless talking in the guise of reasoning
(this is a case of negative reinforcement as we will see subsequently). Various
manipulative strategies may also be used. One is impression management, where one
tries to make one’s side look good (e.g., argue that a new TV will help the children
see educational TV when it is really mostly wanted to see sports programming, or
argue that all "decent families make a contribution to the church"). Authority involves
asserting one’s "right" to make a decision (as the "man of the house," the mother of
the children, or the one who makes the most money). Emotion involves making an
emotional display to get one’s way (e.g., a man cries if his wife will not let him buy a
new rap album).

The Means-End Chain. Consumers often buy products not because of their attributes
per se but rather because of the ultimate benefits that these attributes provide, in
turn leading to the satisfaction of ultimate values. For example, a consumer may not
be particularly interested in the chemistry of plastic roses, but might reason as
follows:
The important thing in a means-end chain is to start with an attribute, a concrete
characteristic of the product, and then logically progress to a series of consequences
(which tend to become progressively more abstract) that end with a value being
satisfied. Thus, each chain must start with an attribute and end with a value. An
important implication of means-end chains is that it is usually most effective in
advertising to focus on higher level items. For example, in the flower example above,
an individual giving the flowers to the significant other might better be portrayed
than the flowers alone.

Attitudes.  Consumer attitudes are a composite of a consumer’s (1) beliefs about, (2)
feelings about, (3) and behavioral intentions toward some “object”—within the
context of marketing, usually a brand, product category, or retail store.  These
components are viewed together since they are highly interdependent and together
represent forces that influence how the consumer will react to the object.

Beliefs.  The first component is beliefs.  A consumer may hold both positive beliefs
toward an object (e.g., coffee tastes good) as well as negative beliefs (e.g., coffee is
easily spilled and stains papers).  In addition, some beliefs may be neutral (coffee is
black), and some may be differ in valance depending on the person or the situation
(e.g., coffee is hot and stimulates--good on a cold morning, but not good on a hot
summer evening when one wants to sleep).  Note also that the beliefs that consumers
hold need not be accurate (e.g., that pork contains little fat), and some beliefs may,
upon closer examination, be contradictory.

Affect.  Consumers also hold certain feelings toward brands or other objects. 
Sometimes these feelings are based on the beliefs (e.g., a person feels nauseated
when thinking about a hamburger because of the tremendous amount of fat it
contains), but there may also be feelings which are relatively independent of beliefs. 
For example, an extreme environmentalist may believe that cutting down trees is
morally wrong, but may have positive affect toward Christmas trees because he or she
unconsciously associates these trees with the experience that he or she had at
Christmas as a child.

Behavioral intention.  The behavioral intention is what the consumer plans to do with
respect to the object (e.g., buy or not buy the brand).  As with affect, this is
sometimes a logical consequence of beliefs (or affect), but may sometimes reflect
other circumstances--e.g., although a consumer does not really like a restaurant, he
or she will go there because it is a hangout for his or her friends.

Changing attitudes is generally very difficult, particularly when consumers suspect

that the marketer has a self-serving “agenda” in bringing about this change (e.g., to
get the consumer to buy more or to switch brands).  Here are some possible methods:

 Changing affect.  One approach is to

try to change affect, which may or may
not involve getting consumers to
change their beliefs.  One strategy uses
the approach of classical conditioning
try to “pair” the product with a liked
stimulus.  For example, we “pair” a car
with a beautiful woman.  Alternatively,
we can try to get people to like the
advertisement and hope that this liking
will “spill over” into the purchase of a
product.  For example, the Pillsbury
Doughboy does not really emphasize
the conveyance of much information to
the consumer; instead, it attempts to
create a warm, “fuzzy” image. 
Although Energizer Bunny ads try to get
people to believe that their batteries
last longer, the main emphasis is on the
likeable bunny.  Finally, products which
are better known, through the mere
exposure effect, tend to be better
liked—that is, the more a product is
advertised and seen in stores, the more
it will generally be liked, even if
consumers to do not develop any
specific beliefs about the product.
 Changing behavior.  People like to
believe that their behavior is rational;
thus, once they use our products,
chances are that they will continue
unless someone is able to get them to
switch.  One way to get people to
 switch to our brand is to use temporary
price discounts and coupons; however,
when consumers buy a product on deal,
they may justify the purchase based on
that deal (i.e., the low price) and may
then switch to other brands on deal
later.  A better way to get people to
switch to our brand is to at least
temporarily obtain better shelf space
so that the product is more
convenient.  Consumers are less likely
to use this availability as a rationale for
their purchase and may continue to buy
the product even when the product is
less conveniently located. 
 Changing beliefs.  Although attempting
to change beliefs is the obvious way to
attempt attitude change, particularly
when consumers hold unfavorable or
inaccurate ones, this is often difficult
to achieve because consumers tend to
resist.  Several approaches to belief
change exist:
 Change currently held beliefs.  It is
generally very difficult to attempt to
change beliefs that people hold,
particularly those that are strongly
held, even if they are inaccurate.  For
example, the petroleum industry
advertised for a long time that its
profits were lower than were commonly
believed, and provided extensive
factual evidence in its advertising to
support this reality.  Consumers were
suspicious and rejected this
information, however.
 Change the importance of beliefs. 
Although the sugar manufacturers
would undoubtedly like to decrease the
importance of healthy teeth, it is
usually not feasible to make beliefs less
important--consumers are likely to
reason, why, then, would you bother
bringing them up in the first place? 
However, it may be possible to
strengthen beliefs that favor us--e.g., a
 vitamin supplement manufacturer may
advertise that it is extremely important
for women to replace iron lost through
menstruation.  Most consumers already
agree with this, but the belief can be
made stronger.
 Add beliefs.  Consumers are less likely
to resist the addition of beliefs so long
as they do not conflict with existing
beliefs.  Thus, the beef industry has
added beliefs that beef (1) is
convenient and (2) can be used to make
a number of creative dishes.  Vitamin
manufacturers attempt to add the
belief that stress causes vitamin
depletion, which sounds quite plausible
to most people.
 Change ideal.  It usually difficult, and
very risky, to attempt to change ideals,
and only few firms succeed.  For
example, Hard Candy may have
attempted to change the ideal away
from traditional beauty toward more
unique self expression.

One-sided vs. two-sided appeals.  Attitude research has shown that consumers often
tend to react more favorably to advertisements which either (1) admit something
negative about the sponsoring brand (e.g., the Volvo is a clumsy car, but very safe) or
(2) admits something positive about a competing brand (e.g., a competing
supermarket has slightly lower prices, but offers less service and selection).  Two-
sided appeals must, contain overriding arguments why the sponsoring brand is
ultimately superior—that is, in the above examples, the “but” part must be
emphasized. 

Perception. Our perception is an approximation of reality.  Our brain attempts to

make sense out of the stimuli to which we are exposed.  This works well, for
example, when we “see” a friend three hundred feet away at his or her correct
height; however, our perception is sometimes “off”—for example, certain shapes of
ice cream containers look like they contain more than rectangular ones with the same
volume.

Subliminal stimuli.  Back in the 1960s, it was reported that on selected evenings,
movie goers in a theater had been exposed to isolated frames with the words “Drink
Coca Cola” and “Eat Popcorn” imbedded into the movie.  These frames went by so
fast that people did not consciously notice them, but it was reported that on nights
with frames present, Coke and popcorn sales were significantly higher than on days
they were left off.  This led Congress to ban the use of subliminal advertising.  First of
all, there is a question as to whether this experiment ever took place or whether this
information was simply made up.  Secondly, no one has been able to replicate these
findings.  There is research to show that people will start to giggle with
embarrassment when they are briefly exposed to “dirty” words in an experimental
machine.  Here, again, the exposure is so brief that the subjects are not aware of the
actual words they saw, but it is evident that something has been recognized by the
embarrassment displayed.

Organizational buyers.  A large portion of the market for goods and services is
attributable to organizational, as opposed to individual, buyers.  In general,
organizational buyers, who make buying decisions for their companies for a living,
tend to be somewhat more sophisticated than ordinary consumers.  However, these
organizational buyers are also often more risk averse.  There is a risk in going with a
new, possibly better (lower price or higher quality) supplier whose product is
unproven and may turn out to be problematic.  Often the fear of running this risk is
greater than the potential rewards for getting a better deal.  In the old days, it used
to be said that “You can’t get fired for buying IBM.” This attitude is beginning to
soften a bit today as firms face increasing pressures to cut costs.         

Organizational buyers come in several forms.  Resellers involve either wholesalers or

retailers that buy from one organization and resell to some other entity.  For
example, large grocery chains sometimes buy products directly from the
manufacturer and resell them to end-consumers.  Wholesalers may sell to retailers
who in turn sell to consumers.  Producers also buy products from sub-manufacturers
to create a finished product.  For example, rather than manufacturing the parts
themselves, computer manufacturers often buy hard drives, motherboards, cases,
monitors, keyboards, and other components from manufacturers and put them
together to create a finished product.  Governments buy a great deal of things.  For
example, the military needs an incredible amount of supplies to feed and equip
troops.  Finally, large institutions buy products in huge quantities.  For example, UCR
probably buys thousands of reams of paper every month.

Organizational buying usually involves more people than individual buying.  Often,
many people are involved in making decisions as to (a) whether to buy, (b) what to
buy, (c) at what quantity, and (d) from whom.  An engineer may make a specification
as to what is needed, which may be approved by a  manager, with the final purchase
being made by a purchase specialist who spends all his or her time finding the best
deal on the goods that the organization needs.  Often, such long purchase processes
can cause long delays.  In the government, rules are often especially stringent—e.g.,
vendors of fruit cake have to meet fourteen pages of specifications put out by the
General Services Administration.  In many cases, government buyers are also heavily
bound to go with the lowest price.  Even if it is obvious that a higher priced vendor
will offer a superior product, it may be difficult to accept that bid.